The Intern and Her BabySitter
by aye davanita
Summary: AU Literati. Rory Gilmore is an intern at the New York Times, and her boss is a jerk named Jess. Will they end up enemies or something more? COMPLETE.
1. First Day

A/N: This is my first independently written fic. It is AU, so some things may be different than the show. Rory has decided to go to Columbia University in New   
York.   
  
Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls, you could be sure Jess wouldn't be leaving.  
  
  
  
Rory Gilmore walked into the New York Times office on her first day of her internship. 'One foot in front of the other,' she told herself. 'Just don't trip.  
First impressions matter.'  
  
It was intimidating, working for the Times. The most prestigious publication that 21-year-old Rory had ever worked on was Columbia University's   
campus paper. Now that she was a senior, she had decided to compete for the Times internship -- and won.  
  
Rory walked up to the front desk. "Hi, I'm Rory Gilmore, I --"  
  
"Second door on your left," said the woman at the desk.  
  
Rory clammed up. She walked to the specified door and knocked timidly.  
  
"Come in," called a gruff male voice. Rory entered the room.  
  
A man around Rory's age sat at a desk. He had curly-ish black hair, brown/greenish eyes, and a small frame (but still bigger than Rory).  
  
"I'm Rory Gilmore," Rory told him.  
  
"The intern," he said. His eyes quickly flicked over her body. Rory noticed and began to feel uncomfortable.  
  
"Yes, from Columbia," she said.  
  
"Have a seat," he told her.  
  
Rory sat in the chair in front of his desk.  
  
"I'm Jess Mariano," he told her. "I'm twenty-two years old, three years at NYU, the youngest staff writer on this paper. And I'm also your baby-sitter for  
this year."  
  
Rory asked, "My baby-sitter?"  
  
"They've officially assigned me to train you in the workings of this paper," Jess told her. "Basically to do something with you."  
  
"Oh," she said. "So -- uh --"  
  
"Mr. Mariano," Jess clarified.  
  
"Mr. Mariano, what exactly will I be doing?" Rory asked.  
  
"Mostly secretarial work," Jess said. "Typing for me, answering the phone, maybe helping out at the front desk if they need you."  
  
"Okay," Rory said slowly. "Will I need to edit or --"  
  
"No," Jess said. "At least not for me. I don't make mistakes."  
  
"All right then," Rory answered. "How can I start?"  
  
"Here," he said, shoving some papers at her. "Take these to Michael Fips on the third floor, in the world news department."  
  
Rory picked up the papers and walked out the door.  
When Rory got back to her dorm room, she collapsed on her bed. Her roommate, Jenny Davis, looked up from her textbook.  
  
"So?" Jenny said eagerly. "How was your first day?"  
  
"Seen 'Two Weeks Notice'?" Rory asked, changing from her skirt into a pair of shorts.  
  
"Yeah," Jenny answered.  
  
"Something akin to that."  
  
"Oh," Jenny said sympathetically. "What exactly happened?"  
  
"Same as Ms. Bullock," Rory replied. "Asshole boss. He says all he's doing is baby-sitting me."  
  
"Well, at least you're not having to go to school," Jenny offered.  
  
Rory had come to Columbia nearly a sophomore, because of all the A.P. courses she took in high school. With this in addition to the accelerated classes  
she took in college, Rory had completed all of her credits in three years. She was now doing the Times internship for her senior year.  
  
"I'd rather be in class than around him," Rory said. "I mean, 'cad' had no meaning until this guy was born."  
  
"I'm sorry," Jenny said sympathetically. "But hey, I know something to make you feel better."  
  
"What?" Rory asked.  
  
"Lorelai called."  
  
Rory's eyes lit up. "Great!" she exclaimed. "I'll call her back. Did you talk to her?"  
  
"For a few minutes," Jenny said.  
  
"What did she say?"  
  
"Well, the baby's still inside her."  
  
"I should hope so, it's only been four months."  
  
Jenny continued, "And Luke is apparently letting her drink one cup of coffee a day. That was her big news."  
  
Rory giggled. "He's going to be such an amazing father."  
  
"Yeah," Jenny agreed. "Hey, I hate to bail out on you, but Andrew and I have a date tonight. I have to go shower."  
  
"Go ahead," Rory said with a smile. "Have fun."  
  
When Jenny was gone, Rory settled back on her bed. She picked up the phone and dialed her best friend's number.  
  
"Mom," Rory said happily when Lorelai picked up.  
  
"Rory!" Lorelai cried. "Quick, send me some caffeine from your system by telepathy. Hurry, before Luke gets back!"  
  
Rory laughed. "Mom, I started my internship today."  
  
"Ooh, details!"  
  
"Well . . ."  
A/N: So what did you think? Worth continuing? I promise, in the next chapter we'll start to see more sparks between Rory and Jess. In the meantime, good  
or bad, please leave a review, I won't know what you think unless you tell me!  
~Lauren 


	2. Sparring Matches and Family Favors

A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews, I really appreciate them.  
Chapter 2  
  
Rory quickly poured the coffee into the cup. She went over Jess' instructions in   
her head -- 'four sugars, three creams.' He hadn't asked for coffee -- he'd asked for  
milk.  
  
She finished assembling the drink (whatever it was) and carried it to Jess' office.  
He was sitting at his desk, writing.  
  
Rory waited for a second, and then asked, "Is there anything else I can do?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, looking up from his papers and picking up the coffee. "Get  
me a donut."  
  
Rory gritted her teeth. Jess noticed.  
  
"Problem with that?" he asked.  
  
"No," Rory answered. She turned around. Then she turned back. "Wait.   
You've been treating me like this for four days now. Am I ever going to put my college  
education to use, or may I as well have an apron on and a notepad in my hand?"  
  
Jess looked at her. "Huh."  
  
"Huh what? Are you going to answer me, or continue to practice for your 'The   
Piano' audition?"  
  
"And Sandra Dee has a backbone."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"It means, you walk in here one day, say 'I'll do whatever the boss tells me to do,'   
don't put up a fight, and I'm taking advantage of it. Now you're starting to fight it."  
  
Rory thought for a moment. "So what you're saying is, you're consciously being  
an asshole."  
  
"I'm trying to teach you a lesson," Jess said innocently.  
  
Rory laughed. "And what's that, coffee is better with sugar?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"Well anyway, the lesson is, stand up for yourself," Jess said.  
  
"Bullshit."  
  
"Hey, I'm still your boss," he reminded her. "You have to treat me with some respect."  
  
"You're not that much higher up than me."  
  
He raised his eyebrows. "I'm a staff writer; you're a student intern."  
  
Rory sighed in frustration. "You're only a little older than me."  
  
Jess shrugged. "Well, it seems as though I've done better things with my time. Because  
I'm working at the best paper in the country, and you're only interning there. For me."  
  
"What do you mean, you've been making better use of your time?" Rory asked. "I've   
been going to college, getting an education, so I can make use of myself in the world."  
  
"Were you raised in a cave?" Jess asked. "Because you're not very wordly.   
Nowadays, you don't have to go to college to succeed. Look at me."  
  
"You went to college."  
  
"For three years. Didn't graduate."  
  
"Oh, right," Rory said.   
  
They were silent for a moment. Then Rory walked out of Jess' office to the front desk.  
That night, Jess arrived home to his apartment, popped open a cold beer, and settled   
down in his chair to watch "The Sopranos" in reruns. He took a swig of his beer and thought  
about his day at the office. Mostly it had been paperwork, with little opportunity to get any  
actual writing done.  
  
Then there was the verbal sparring match with the intern. Rory. Jess didn't know what it was, but there was something about her that was . . . nice.  
  
Nice. Jess nearly smacked himself in the head. First of all, she was his intern, for god's   
sake. She was practically his employee. Second of all, she thought he was a class-A jerk. She  
had certainly made that clear in the office earlier.  
  
The phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" Jess said when he picked up.  
  
"Jess, it's your uncle Luke," Luke Danes said.  
  
"What's up?" Jess asked.   
  
"I need you to come to Stars Hollow this weekend."  
  
Jess snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I would ever set foot inside that crazy town. Oh, my  
mom and I didn't have the best relationship, but she told me about that place."  
  
"It's mine and Lorelai's one-year wedding anniversary party. She's pregnant, having   
mood swings, and her latest whim is that she wants to meet my whole family. You -- my   
nephew. Therefore Lorelai wants to meet you."  
  
"I came to your wedding, isn't that enough?"  
  
"Flying into Hartford intending to come to my wedding and then partying all night long  
doesn't count, Jess."  
  
Jess said, "Well, I had the best intentions."  
  
"Not good enough." Luke paused for a moment. "Come on, Jess, how bad can it be?  
You'll come, stay a night with Lorelai and me, maybe interact with some people, and leave and  
go back to your enclave in New York."  
  
Jess thought for a moment. Luke was family, and the wedding thing had been low of   
Jess. He did have some sort of a conscience.  
  
"Fine. Count me in."  
A/N: So what do you think? Again, good or bad, reviews are welcome! Next chapter, Rory  
and Jess learn each other's true identities (cue As the World Turns music). I'll try to have it up in   
the next couple of days.  
~Lauren 


	3. The Anniversary Party

A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers. 

  
Chapter 3

Rory sang along with Belinda Carlisle Saturday morning as she drove to Lorelai and Luke's house. "Ooh, baby do you know what that's worth," she warbled. "Ooh, heaven is a place on earth."

Belinda Carlisle reminded Rory of her mom, and she smiled. It was amazing how Lorelai and Luke had finally admitted to their feelings for each other. And now they were married with a child on the way. It was strange -- after years of feeding and caffeinating her, Rory would be connected to Luke through the baby.

Rory was so caught up in her musings that she nearly missed the exit to Stars Hollow. She veered right and off the interstate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess took the train to Stars Hollow. When he arrived, Luke was waiting for him. Jess recognized his uncle immediately; the last time they saw each other, Luke had been wearing a backwards baseball cap and a flannel shirt.

"Hey," said Luke.

"Hey," Jess answered.

Silence.

"So, you go more luggage?" Luke asked, gesturing toward the lone suitcase in Jess' hand.

Jess raised an eyebrow. "I'm a man. I don't require three bags for a weekend trip."

"Right," Luke said. "So uh, you ready to go?"

"I don't know, the board announcing the train arrivals and departures is pretty fascinating reading material. I may stay and look at it for a while," Jess answered sarcastically.

"You're acting like a teenager here against his will," Luke snapped. "Come on, let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed. "You're just in time. I'm having an epiphany. Tonight I am celebrating the fact that I committed to one man by law for over a year."

"A year and a day," Rory said, "to be precise." She walked in the door of her mom's house.

"Uh, yeah Rory. I know I'm forgetful but I'll remember my own wedding anniversary."

"You recorded a reminder and programmed your alarm clock to play it, didn't you?"

Lorelai replied, "Better safe than sorry."

"You're shameless."

"And you're just like me."

"No, I remember stuff."

"Says the girl who forgot her three-month anniversary with her first boyfriend," Lorelai pointed out.

"Valid point," Rory admitted. "Hey, what are you wearing to the party tonight?"

"Oh, I got a fabulous new dress," Lorelai said excitedly. "Come upstairs, I'll show it to you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they neared Stars Hollow, Luke tried to initiate a conversation with Jess.

"So, you remember your second cousin Amber?" Luke asked.

"Sure," Jess said, staring out the window. He missed New York already.

"She'll be there," Luke said.

"Wow, you weren't kidding."

"About what?"  


"Lorelai invited the whole family. What did she do, go online and trace your genealogy and invited everyone who came up on the site?"

"It's crazy I know, hopefully the mood swings will end soon," Luke said. "Yesterday she decided to move our entire room around. The bed is now right next to the door, which I can't stand."

"Mmmm."

Luke paused for a second. "Lorelai's daughter will be there. She's about your age."

This was interesting. "How does Lorelai have a twenty-two-year-old daughter?"

"Twenty-one, actually. She's great, really smart, very pretty."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Lorelai had her when she was sixteen. But she did an excellent job raising her, aside from the fact that she'll probably die of a sugar coma at age thirty."

They pulled up to the diner. Jess got out and pulled his suitcase with him.

Luke took him upstairs to the apartment. "You can stay here, or you can stay with me and Lorelai."

"Nah, here's good."

"That's what I thought," he said. He left to go get sheets for the bed.

Jess wandered around the room for a few minutes while Luke went to get the sheets. The room was mostly bare since Luke had moved in with Lorelai, but there were still a few pictures lying around in their frames. Most were Luke and a dark-haired woman that Jess assumed was Lorelai; there was one of Luke and a woman with long curly hair.

Then he saw it.

A picture of Luke, Lorelai, and the intern -- Rory Gilmore.

Luke entered as Jess picked up the picture. "Hey Luke."

"What?" He was in the process of changing the sheets.

"Who's this girl?" Jess held up the picture and pointed to Rory.

"That's Lorelai's daughter, the one I was telling you about. Rory."

It was a small world, after all. Jess couldn't believe it -- the intern was his stepcousin. 

This would be a fun party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory felt comforted as she stood by the food table and looked around the town center. The usual suspects were there -- Miss Patty was trying to entice a cousin of Luke's by the gazebo. Kirk was the self-appointed present-taker -- he held the presents until Lorelai (she was running the gift show) was ready to open them. And Taylor was inspected everything for signs of vandalism.

Emily and Richard, who had driven in from Hartford, approached Rory. "Rory!" Richard exclaimed. "Lovely to see you!"

"It's great to see you too, Grandpa," Rory said with a smile. She hugged him, then hugged Emily.

"How is your internship at the newspaper going?" Emily asked.

"It's good," Rory lied. "I get to do a lot of busy work though."

"Oh, well, start at the bottom and work your way up," Richard commented. "It's the way things should be -- these days, everyone is handed their positions on a silver platter."

A slow song started up. Emily gasped. "Oh, Richard, we must dance to this one," she said. "Rory, dear, you don't mind, do you?"  
  
"No, go ahead," Rory said with a grin. Her grandparents left to dance, probably to a song with special meaning to their relationship.

Rory went over to the gazebo, where Luke and Lorelai sat.

"Mom, this is bigger than your wedding reception," Rory commented. "Luke, how did you let this happen?"

"Easy," Luke answered. "When we got married, she wasn't pregnant. Now she is."

"Point taken," Rory said."

"Daughter, being pregnant brings many luxuries," Lorelai told her.

"It also deprives you of coffee."

Lorelai frowned. "Which, in turn, cancels out all the luxuries."

Luke's attention was diverted. "Over there's my nephew Jess."

"Oh, bring him over here," Lorelai urged. "I'd love to meet him."

Luke left to retrieve Jess.

Rory thought for a moment. It was curious that his name was the same as her boss; Jess wasn't a very common name for men. _Then again_, she thought wryly, _there's no way Luke's nephew is anywhere near the level of conceit and meanness of my boss._

Luke approached the gazebo behind Rory. "Rory, Lorelai, this is my nephew Jess. Jess, this is my wife Lorelai and my stepdaughter Rory."

Rory turned around.

"Hello," Jess Mariano said.

Oh. My God.


	4. Disappointment On the Bridge

A/N: As always, thank you so much to the reviewers, you guys are awesome (and I say that in a strictly non-Kimberly Caldwell tone).

****

Laura Mariano -- The suggestion you made about the bridge . . . I had that in mind, and when you suggested it, I decided to put it in the story. Thanks.

****

Chapter 4

"Are you going to say hi?" Jess asked, a small smirk beginning to appear on his face.

Rory couldn't believe it. Her boss was her stepfather's nephew. She had a connection to him beyond torturer/torturee.

"Hello," Rory said.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked, noticing her daughter's strained expression.

"He's my boss," Rory told them.

"Hi. Jess Mariano. I'm sure you've heard horror stories about me," Jess said, extending his hand to Lorelai.

She shook it warily. "A few."

"Wait a sec. You're the sadistic boss?" Luke asked.

"Tough, yes. Sadistic, no," Jess answered. He turned to Rory. "I knew you didn't like me, but sadistic?"  
  
"Are you taking pleasure in this right now?" Rory asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a slight rush."

"Then yes, you're a sadist."

Jess said, "Well, I'd love to hang around here a little while, but I'm awfully hungry and I need to eat."  
  
Rory watched him go. "Oh, I hate him!" she cried. "Luke, how are you related to him?"

"His father was a bastard," Luke explained. "Left when Jess was six. He's where Jess gets it all from."

Rory felt a pang of compassion. Then she said, "That doesn't give him the right to treat people the way he does." She stopped. "I'm going to go get the DJ to play something non-puke-inducing." Rory wished Lane had been able to DJ; unfortunately, she was in Australia playing a gig. Rory would never for the life of her understand why someone would fly halfway around the world for one gig -- but Lane seemed to love it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instead of talking to the DJ, Rory detoured to a favorite spot of hers in the town. The bridge -- the very object of the numerous "Save the Bridge" funds.

Rory sat and dangled her feet over the edge. As she was getting comfortable, she saw a figure standing near the woods.

"Who's there?" she called out.

Rory practically heard him smirk. "It's the sadistic boss."

"Oh," Rory groaned. She really didn't have the energy to fight him at the moment.

"You sound so thrilled," Jess said, emerging from the trees and sitting next to her.

"Oh, yes, I just love being taunted, condescended to, and laughed at for long periods of time," Rory said. "And that's all you ever do to me, so why shouldn't I be dancing at the mere mention of your name?"

"I'm not that bad," Jess defended himself. "I complimented you on the coffee last week."

Rory chortled. "Coffee." She used air quotes as she repeated the word.

"What?"  
  
"What you call coffee, my mother and I call a crime against humanity."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "You have such strong feelings about coffee?"

"Thank your uncle, he spoiled me," Rory said with a smile. "I'll never drink a lesser cup of coffee again."

"Yeah, I remember my mom saying once that one cup of Luke's coffee would turn you into a caffeine hound."

"She was right."

Jess was silent for a moment, then asked, "So you're Lorelai's daughter?"

"That's what they tell me, and since we look so alike, I'm inclined to believe them," Rory replied.

"My mom was pretty young when she had me, like yours."  


"How young?"  


"Nineteen."

Rory shook her head. "My God, I'd have a two-year-old by now."  
  
"Well, what about your mom, Luke told me she was sixteen when she had you."  
  
Rory wondered why Luke had told him that, then decided to let it go. "Yeah, but she's always been different. I think Mom could have survived on her own at age ten," she mused.

He answered, "Survival is a good skill to have."

"Sure is." Rory asked, "Why are you being so nice and civil to me?"  
  
"I told you, I'm not that bad. Just very . . . defensive. And I don't know, this place is just so . . . peaceful. I almost don't want to ruin it by being a cad."

Rory grinned. "I love it here. I used to come here and read a lot in high school."

"What do you read?" Jess' interest was piqued. He was an avid reader as well.

"Everything. Mostly classic literature, though."

"Me too," Jess said. "I love Hemingway the best."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "Why? He always put me to sleep."

"How?" Jess asked incredulously. "He had a good style, good storylines --"

"All of which somehow put me to sleep."

"Well then, who's your favorite author?"

Rory smiled a little. "Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath, Ayn Rand --"

Jess cut her off. "A commitment-phobic near-recluse, a suicidal maniac, and a bitter, self-centered political nut. Okay, go on."

"Hemingway was suicidal," she pointed out.

"He sensibly shot himself, he didn't stick his head in an oven."  
  
"I don't see how that makes it better, but all right," Rory said. "But Plath wrote with so much more . . . heart than Hemingway."

Jess asked, "Have you read 'The Sun Also Rises'?"

"No, I stopped after falling asleep during both 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' and 'A Farewell to Arms'."

"Read it," Jess advised. "Then tell me that Hemingway didn't write with heart."

"Okay," she agreed. Then she started talking about the merits of Ayn Rand and the genius of 'Atlas Shrugged."

Jess caught himself blatantly staring at her while she was talking. She was so pretty . . . wait a second. He fought the instinct to slap himself in the head. This was the second time in the six days he had known her that he'd had the beginnings of such thoughts. He could not like her -- sure, she was beautiful, and nice, and apparently very smart, but she was his _employee._ And while there was no rule at the _Times_ about intraoffice dating, he personally wasn't comfortable with it. Especially not with the girl under his professional rule.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory stopped talking as she noticed the way Jess was looking at her. He was looking at her with -- what? Interest? Admiration? Both?

She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "So . . . she's just very cynical. Not a nut."

Jess visibly snapped back to reality. "Who?"

"Ayn Rand."

"Oh," he said.

Rory could tell he was flustered. _He's not_ -- no. There was no way he was having thoughts about her beyond what assignment to give her next.

But what if he was? How would she deal with it? After all, up until about thirty minutes ago, she'd hated him. Now, though, she had broken through his outer shell -- and she liked the inside of him.

These thoughts all went through her mind in a matter of seconds.

"Rory?" Jess asked, breaking the generally comfortable silence.

"Yes?"  
  
"What are you thinking about?"  
  
Rory looked at him. It seemed they each knew what the other was thinking.

And then, he leaned in to kiss her. But just as they met, Rory pulled back.

"I -- I have to go," she stammered, jumping up. "My mom is probably worried." With that, she ran back in the direction of the party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess looked after her until she disappeared out of sight. At least now he knew for sure how he felt. Because when she pulled away, he had felt a surge of disappointment.

A/N: Okay, so what did you think? I won't know if you don't tell me, so please review. And feel free to give plot suggestions, I've already had two that I'm considering incorporating into the story.

~Lauren


	5. Reflections

A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers. I'm sorry about 1) the quality of this coming chapter and 2) the time it took to get it posted.

Special thanks to Katherine for nagging me to update. 

****

Chapter 3

Rory dragged her suitcase down Lorelai's porch steps the following morning. The suitcase was pretty light -- Rory hadn't inherited her mother's need to bring every worldly possession with her when she traveled.

Lorelai watched her from the swing. "Ugh, too much champagne last night," she announced.

Rory put her suitcase in her trunk and slammed it shut. "Mom, you're pregnant. Luke didn't let you drink last night."

Lorelai stared at her. "Oh. Must have been sparkling apple juice, then." 

"Well, Jamie Foxx, I have to leave you now," Rory said.

"You've only been here a few hours!" Lorelai whined. Still, she stood up and hugged Rory.

"I know, but I need to get back and wind down so I can go to work tomorrow," Rory explained. She pulled away from her mom. "I'll visit again in a few weeks."

"Okay, but take a picture of me now, 'cause it will be the last time you see me average weight until after little Gunther here is born." Lorelai patted her stomach.

"Please don't actually name it that," Rory advised.

"Why not? It's cute, unique --"

"It reminds me of a mouse."  
  
"Mice are cute."

"Mice are stinky, parasitic little pests that no one likes and everyone wants to catch and kill in a trap."

"Okay, fine."  
  
Rory got into her car and started the engine.

"Bye, sweetie," Lorelai said. "Call me when you get home."

"I will," Rory promised. She pulled out of the driveway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess got back to his apartment around three o'clock on Sunday afternoon. He threw his bag off to the corner, it could wait until later.

Since the night before, Jess hadn't been able to think of anything but Rory. He wondered if the near-kiss had just been a result of the peaceful water and the moonlight doing things to his head -- or if he really wanted to kiss her. There was an undeniable attraction there, but was it really that strong?  
  
He pushed it out of his head for a moment, and checked his answering machine. The red light was flashing; he had three messages. The first was from Sarah at the office -- she needed his article on the upcoming governor's election. 

The second was from Elizabeth.

Jess froze as he heard her voice float over the apartment. "Hey, Jess, it's Lizzie. I just wanted to call and talk to you . . . I haven't seen you in so long, I wondered how you were doing. If you could just give me a call back --"  


Jess hit delete. "Message deleted," said the computer.

Elizabeth Brown. Jess had met her in his second year at NYU, in his creative writing class. It was nowhere near love at first sight -- in fact, he thought she was a pretentious airhead at first. But then they were stuck working on a project together . . . and their relationship had progressed from there.

It had been the most serious relationship Jess ever had with anyone in his life; he was nearly ready to propose about five months ago. Then she left him, saying she just didn't think it was working out. Translation: she met someone else. 

As he thought about it, Jess felt himself dragging up old feelings that were better left pushed down. So he took his mind off of Elizabeth -- he sat down on his couch, pulled out a book from underneath the couch, and began reading "The Fountainhead."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory opened her dorm room door, dragging her suitcase along with her. Like Jess across the town from her, she tossed her bag off to the side.

"How was the party?"

Rory jumped. She hadn't noticed Jenny sitting on her bed.

"It was great," she lied. "Totally normal. Nothing happened, you know, Miss Patty found her next husband, Kirk showed us all why you should move out of your mom's house the first chance you get, and Taylor nearly had half the town arrested."

"That town is screwed up," Jenny said, falling back on her bed.

"Try living there."

Jenny sat back up as quickly as she lay down. "Anything else happen?"  


Rory looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"  
  
"I don't know, you just seem . . . guarded. Closed off. I'm just wondering if anything happened."

She hesitated for a moment. Then she decided to tell her. "You know my boss?"  


"The one you almost hung a picture-slash-dartboard up of? Yeah."

"Well . . . we almost kissed."

Jenny's eyes widened considerably. "No!"  
  
"Yes!"

"How?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Well, you know, he moved his head towards mine, and I moved mine in the same general direction, and --"

"So he kissed you first?" Jenny asked.

"You would pick out the useful information in a sarcastic statement.

"Well . . . did he?"

"Yes," Rory admitted. "We were on the bridge and we were talking about books, and --"

"Wait," Jenny interrupted. "Why was he even there in the first place?"

"He's Luke's nephew."

Jenny's jaw dropped. "Whoa! So . . . he's there, and . . ."

"And I went off to the bridge for a little while after I found out he was my stepfather's nephew, and he saw me there. We started talking, and after a while, he . . . leaned in to kiss me."

"So . . . you didn't actually kiss him."

"Nope. I pulled away." Rory buried her face in a pillow. "And now, here I am, seventeen hours away from having to face him and needing to, in that time span, decide how I feel about him."

"You hate him, remember?" Jenny leaned over her bed and turned on the stereo. She fiddled with the radio dial before finally settling on a station playing Sister Hazel's "Your Mistake." 

"I'm not so sure."  
  
"Why would you like him? He made a week of your life a living hell, and that's only a small part of a large internship."

"I don't know, when I was talking to him on the bridge, I just . . . felt something," Rory explained. "And when I pulled away from the kiss, it felt wrong. Like it was against my instinct or something."

Jenny raised her eyebrow. "Wow, if it's instinctual to kiss this guy, it must be pretty serious."

Rory rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"I know, I'm just having fun with you."  
  
They sat in silence for a moment.

"So what do I do now?" Rory asked.

"The only thing you can do -- talk to him in the office tomorrow."

Rory nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, what else can I do? I can't quit the internship, and as long as I have the internship, I have to see him."

"So it's settled. Walk into his office tomorrow and tell him how you feel."

Rory remained quiet. That was the question -- what were her feelings? She still hadn't figured that part out yet. Yes, she had felt disappointment when she found herself pulling away -- but was that because of him, or because it had just been so long since she had a boyfriend and she was feeling lonely? And how did she know that he was really serious about her -- he could have just been messing around with her, back to his normal satanic self Monday morning.

She sighed aloud, breaking into her own thoughts. "I don't want to think about this right now. Pizza sound good?"  
  
Jenny jumped up and grabbed a jacket. "Let's go!" She was out the door before Rory was even standing up.

Rory slipped her shoes on and picked up a jacket. A good, cheesy pizza was definitely what she needed right now. And she would deal with Jess -- well, tomorrow. Hopefully another night's sleep would help clear her head, and she would have a definite solution in the morning.

A/N: Okay, you know the drill. Please review, I won't know what you think unless you tell me. And again, sorry about the wait for this chapter. The next one should be up really soon, because I'm on spring break this week and I'll have more time to write. So . . . until next time --

~Lauren


	6. Clearing the Air

A/N: Thanks so much to all of the reviewers. And thanks to Loz, Helen, Summer, Katherine, Joan, and Lauren.

Hey, everyone, I know this may be the wrong audience, but I'm cowriting a Trory with Joan (bibleboymary4ever) called "Lost Without You." You should definitely check it out.

****

Disclaimer: I figure since this is my longest preamble yet, I should add another one of these just to be safe . . . anyway, I have nothing. So please don't sue me, Amy Sherman-Palladino, I really admire you and it would suck if you were the first to put me in jail.

Oh, and if anyone caught it, I labeled the last chapter as Chapter 3 before the actual chapter started . . . I was tired. It was Chapter 5. So, by the laws of numbers, here is . . . 

****

Chapter 6

Rory walked into the office Monday morning with an uncertain stride and a shaky smile on her face. She got the paranoid feeling that everyone around her knew what had almost happened Saturday night. She shook it off -- not possible, most of them didn't even know her name, much less exactly who she worked for.

She passed the front desk. "Miss Gilmore," Cheryl, the front desk receptionist, called out to her.

Rory froze. How did she know? Was Jess talking? What if everyone knew, and --

__

Stop it, Gilmore. You're being ridiculous. No one knows or cares what happened on that bridge.

She turned back to the desk. "Yes?"  
  
Cheryl handed her a piece of paper. "Evan Anderson gave this to me for you to proofread."

Rory breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief. "Oh. Okay." She mainly worked for Jess, but every now and then, she was asked to help out another staff writer.

She took the article and walked to Jess' office. Rory stopped and considered going to the bathroom to avoid him for five more minutes, but decided against it. Instead she raised her hand to the door and knocked. 

No answer. She knocked again. Still nothing. And surprisingly, the door wasn't locked. Rory decided to walk straight in.

She entered the empty office. The computer was already on and papers were sufficiently shuffled on the desk. Rory assumed Jess had already gotten to the building and had just stepped out of his office for a moment.

Her theory proved correct, since as soon as she thought it, Jess walked in the door, holding a cup of freshly poured coffee. He stopped when he saw her standing next to his desk.

"Oh. Hello," he said.

"Hello," she answered in a voice a little higher-pitched than usual due to nervousness. She gestured to the cup. "You got your own?"  
  
"Yeah," he said. Now he was forced to move closer to her in order to set the hot cup down on his desk. "I figured I'd spare you the torture of making a cup of fake coffee."

She smiled. _So far, so good._ He was being pretty nice to her.

"Well, thanks for thinking of me," Rory said.

"Not a problem."

She took in the possible double meaning of that statement. Did he mean the coffee was no problem? Or that thinking of her in general was easy for him? Or was she -- and this was a distinct possibility -- overthinking it all, and he had just been trying to make a casual reply to clear the air?

Jess wasn't sure what to do in this situation. He hadn't ever dealt with anything like this before. Was he supposed to talk directly to her about it, or were they supposed to move on as if nothing had ever happened? His head was full of thoughts, unfortunately, they were swimming together and he couldn't separate one from the other.

He decided to sit in his chair. "So, uh, I have this article for you to proof," he stammered.

She raised her eyebrows. "You want me to what?"  
  
"Are you deaf? I want you to proofread it. You know, check for mistakes, flaws in the style --"  


"I know what proofing is," she interrupted. "Just . . . I thought you didn't make mistakes."

He looked at her. "Sometimes. Everyone makes a mistake every now and then."

Rory understood what he was telling her. Saturday night had been a mistake; it was just something that happened that they would never speak of again.

She swallowed. "Okay, what's the article on?"

"The article on New York City's Teacher of the Year," Jess told her with a roll of his eyes. "Every now and then they throw me this human interest crap and I have to do it."

Rory smiled. "Human interest crap? I think it's nice, honoring a teacher like that for their hard work. What they do is important."

"Yeah, you obviously never had any teachers like mine," Jess answered. "They would make you swear off ever stepping inside a school again."

Rory smiled a little. "Well, I guess I'll go proof this and get it back to you as soon as possible."  
  
"You do that," Jess said, swiveling his chair toward the computer. "I want it on my desk at lunchtime."

She smiled once more, and then left to sit in her small cubicle and proofread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess thought he had done a pretty good job with the situation he had been handed. Rory seemed all right, he felt all right, and he could even feel himself being nicer to her.

He yawned as he put some file folders back in order on his desk. He was about to get up and go get lunch when he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Jess."

He looked up. The door was standing open, in contrast to how Rory closed it when she left earlier. 

"Elizabeth." Jess got her name out through clenched teeth. This would be fun.

"Hi," she said, walking over to him.

"Hi," he answered, standing up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my lunch break."  
  
"One syllable and I'm excused?"  


"Well, I figured I wouldn't string you along for two years and then excuse you," Jess retorted.

Elizabeth sighed. "Look, Jess. I'm sorry about that. I'm here because I really want to talk to you. I want to talk about . . . us."

"Kind of hard to talk about something nonexistent, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"Jess, just stop being a wiseass for one second and let me talk!" Elizabeth nearly shouted. "Look, about 'us' being nonexistent . . . I want 'us' to come into being again."

"Fabio left you?"

"Jacob," Elizabeth said, narrowing her eyes. "And no, he didn't leave me. I left him."

"Gotta say, Lizzie, you're not making your case real strong here," Jess said sarcastically. "I mean, you've left me once, the guy you left me for once, and who knows how many other relationships you've bailed on."

"But I bailed on Jacob because I realized it was the wrong thing to do with you," Elizabeth pointed out. "And I really want to start seeing you again."

"How does it feel to want?" he asked. He snatched his coat. "Elizabeth, you can't turn our relationship on and off like a faucet. You said it's over months ago. So, it's over. Now, really, I have to go eat."

Jess turned to go, but Elizabeth put her hand on his shoulder. "Let me eat with you."

Jess knew he shouldn't even answer her. He was going to fall back into her trap if he wasn't careful. But he couldn't help it -- her mere hand touching his shoulder brought back a flood of memories, good and bad.

The good overpowered the bad, as was the norm in the male mind, and Jess slightly relented. "Whatever. I'm going to the pizza place down on the corner." Elizabeth hated pizza joints -- if she declined, Jess wouldn't feel guilty about not giving her a chance.

Elizabeth smiled. "Okay. I'm coming too."

"You hate pizza places. You think they're all seedy and poor because they can't afford good lighting and --"  
  
Elizabeth silenced him. "I'm coming too."

Jess looked at her for a minute. Then he pointed out the door. "Okay then. After you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory stood up from her cubicle, cramped from sitting in such a small area for so long. She picked up her two edited pieces, one for Evan and one for Jess, and set off to deliver them to their writers before stopping for lunch.

Rory first took Evan his piece. "Hey," she said, stopping in his door. "Cheryl gave this to me to look over. Here's my revised copy."  
  
"Thanks," Evan muttered, not looking away from his computer. Rory set the paper down on his desk and tiptoed out, hardly wanting to disturb the silence in his office.

Then she went to Jess' office. But before she quite reached the door, she saw something very unexpected. 

Jess was walking to the front entrance of the building with a girl. A very pretty blonde, around his own height. They appeared to be leaving together.

Rory wondered who the girl was. She didn't recognize her from around the office; no, it was someone Jess knew from somewhere else. A sister, maybe? Yeah, right, an obvious Italian with a blonde sister. 

Then who? Surely he wasn't seeing anyone, not with the situation Saturday night. 

Rory found herself wondering why she cared so much. Then she realized (or maybe it was that she finally acknowledged) it -- in the week since she met Jess Mariano, or even possibly in the day and a half since the bridge, she had fallen for him. 

And the emotion she felt watching him go somewhere with another girl? Definitely jealousy.

A/N: So what did you think? Tell me and I'll love you forever. Well . . . don't feel like writing a big ending note like I planned, so I'll just say I hope to update again in the next couple of days. So until then . . . 

~Lauren


	7. A Mismatched Couple and a Waiter Named D...

A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers, you all are so great.

****

Chapter 7

Jess slid into a booth near the back of the pizza place. Elizabeth sat across from him. He avoided her eyes as he picked up a menu and skimmed through it.

"What do you want?" Jess asked.

"Just salad," she answered.

It was one of the most annoying things about her, that had even irked him when they were dating. Elizabeth refused to eat. Going out to dinner was no fun with her, because she never ordered something he could steal bites of from her plate.

"Okay, I'm ordering a pepperoni pizza," he told her. "You know you're welcome to eat some."

"No thanks," she declined. "I'm not hungry."

"If everyone in the world ate like you, we would have no world hunger problems," Jess commented. "Everyone would be satisfied after a bite of food."

"Please don't lecture me on eating," Elizabeth requested.

"I'm not lecturing you on eating, I'm lecturing you on not eating," he pointed out. "And it's a free country and a free restaurant, if you don't like it, you can always stand up and leave."

Elizabeth visibly clenched her teeth. "Look, Jess, I came here to try and make things right with you. You can push me away and try to make me leave all you want, but I'm going to do what I woke up this morning to do."  
  
He looked at her for a minute. "So . . . what exactly did you plan on saying when you woke up this morning?"

"I was going to say --" Elizabeth was interrupted by the waiter.

"Hello, may I take your order?" the college kid asked in a bored tone. Jess looked at his nametag and had to feel sorry for him -- his name was Darwin.

"Yes, we'd like one pepperoni pizza and one salad," Jess told him.

"Anything to drink?" Darwin asked, without even writing down the food order. No big deal -- if he messed up their order, Jess would just demand it be free.

"Just water, thanks," Jess requested.

"Diet Coke." There Elizabeth went again -- Coke had too many calories.

Darwin monotonously told them, "It should be ready soon." Then he disappeared into the dark restaurant.

"Anyway, you were saying?" Jess asked Elizabeth, leaning his chin on his elbow.

"I was just going to tell you that . . . I'm sorry for how things ended, and I -- I want to give us another shot." Elizabeth looked down as she said this last part.

Jess had caught the expression in her eyes before she looked down, though, and she seemed sincere. But -- he couldn't just accept her back that easily, not after what she'd done to him. He had to make her grovel a little bit first.

"Just like that," Jess said. "What makes you think I'll take you back?"  


"The fact that you loved me and you still do," Elizabeth said simply.

Well, there was no arguing with that. No matter how much she had hurt him, he still did love her. But -- was it really worth risking all that pain again? How did he know she wouldn't do the same thing to him again? Maybe he should just stop making her grovel, because he had a feeling he wasn't going to take her back anyway.

"Love doesn't solve everything, Lizzie. It doesn't just magically erase all of our past and present and probably future problems." He rubbed his temples, a sure sign of stress.

"That's because you won't let it," Elizabeth said. "You seem determined to remember and relive everything horrible I did to you."  
  
"Well, it was a lot," he snapped. "And why are you being so calm and rational and sweet? It really doesn't suit you."

Darwin came out with their pizza (well, his pizza, her salad) then, sparing Jess her reply. Much to his surprise, the pizza was the right kind and their drinks were correct. The kid must have had a photographic memory or something.

"Wow, that was fast," Jess commented. "How did you do that?"  
  
"It's just one pizza," Darwin said. "We have the pizzas pretty much already made back there. And the salad's relatively simple."  
  
Jess nodded. "Makes sense." Darwin set down the pizza and left. Elizabeth didn't answer his last comment; instead she picked at her salad, leaving them in silence. And Jess was all right with that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she opened the door to the pizza place that Jess had gone to with that girl, Rory wondered what was wrong with her. Why was she following her boss on a lunch break? Did she really have nothing better to do?

__

It's because you've fallen for him, a voice nagged inside her head. Rory sighed to herself. As much as she hated to admit it, yes, she felt as though she had definite feelings for him. And that was why she was following him, to see exactly what he was doing with that girl.

Rory peered around the restaurant. The lighting was so inefficient, she couldn't tell who among the patrons was Jess. 

As she looked around, she began walking. Not noticing where she was going, she didn't look in her straight path until she felt herself collide with someone. Pizza went flying, and Rory felt sticky drops of Coke on her shirt.

"Oh, no!" she cried. She had crashed into a waiter carrying an order. She flinched as she looked up at an angry face. She also looked at the nametag -- Darwin. Poor guy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rory exclaimed.

"Why were you not watching where you were going?" Darwin snapped.

"I -- I'm sorry, I --" Rory stammered. She found herself glancing around to make sure Jess wasn't nearby and that he hadn't seen her.

Darwin noticed. "What are you looking around for? You could possibly be picking up that tray I dropped."

Rory let out a frustrated sigh. Darwin seemed to soften. "Look, I'll go get napkins," he told her. He disappeared to the back.

Rory noticed people at nearby tables staring. "It's okay," she told them. "Just an accident. Just go ahead and eat."  
  
It took a moment, but they all turned back to their food. Rory was relieved; she hated being the center of attention period, let alone for something embarrassing.

Darwin returned with a mop, another tray, and a truckload of napkins. "Here you go," he said, handing the napkins to her.

"Thanks," she said gratefully. When she had satisfactorily wiped herself off, she asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"  
  
"Nah," Darwin answered. "You have to excuse my initial reaction, I'm very . . . irritated."

Rory smiled. "It's okay. It wasn't exactly my proudest moment either."

Darwin grinned back as he began mopping the floor. "So . . . we're agreed, we're both in rare, bad form."

"Agreed."

Rory couldn't help it -- she craned her neck to make sure Jess wasn't there. And of course, as she did this, he walked past her toward the exit, blonde girl in tow.

"Rory?" he asked as he noticed her standing by Darwin. 

"Oh! Jess! Hi!" she exclaimed. "Wow, imagine you being here and um . . . with someone!" She gestured toward Elizabeth.

Elizabeth glanced at her. "I wouldn't exactly say he's with me."

Rory studied Jess' face. He didn't really express any emotion. She realized there was some sort of history between the two of them, and they were probably trying to work something out. Rory decided that while he was going through this, she would suppress her feelings for him. If he really wanted her, he would come to her; right now, it seemed as though he was a little bit preoccupied.

"Anyway, Rory, I'll see you back at the office," Jess told her.

"You work together?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, she's redecorating for me," Jess said sarcastically.

"Oh," Elizabeth said. "You never seemed like the type to care about redecorating the office." She, unlike Jess, was serious.

Rory stared at her. Did that comment actually just come out of her mouth? New resolve to tell Jess how she felt filled her up -- in the three seconds she had been talking to Elizabeth, she realized she and Jess were the most mismatched couple ever to cross paths. 

Apparently Jess had noticed it too, because he pushed past everyone standing in the entrance area -- Elizabeth, Rory, and Darwin -- and with a flippant, "See you, Lizzie," disappeared out the door and down the street.

"Well, isn't he moody," Elizabeth said.

"I know, he's my boss," Rory told her. "He was just kidding about the redecorating thing."  
  
Elizabeth paused for a second, before saying, "I know that. I was too."  


Rory had to work hard to suppress a laugh. It was women like Elizabeth that gave blondes a bad name. "Yeah. Well, anyway, I should probably get back to work. Jess is a slave driver." He really wasn't that bad, but Rory was just talking for the sake of talking -- otherwise known as babbling. "I mean, if I don't have something done by the minute he says to, it's a lecture for me."

"Okay, well I should let you get back to work," Elizabeth said. "Nice meeting you. Good luck with . . . work." She left, but not before sipping the Diet Coke she was still carrying and setting it on Darwin's tray.

Darwin and Rory both looked after her. "Well, if you didn't like New Yorkers before," he commented.

Rory laughed. "I wonder if she went to college."

"I wonder how she got in if she did go."

Rory laughed. As she got quiet again, she noticed Darwin looking at her strangely. It was almost like -- it was the same way Jess had looked at her on the bridge, just not quite as intense.

"Rory," Darwin began, "would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"  


Rory thought for a moment. The situation -- or almost non-situation -- with Jess was so complicated. She didn't know if she wanted to go adding something else into the mix. But then, while her feelings for Jess were pretty obvious to her, she still wasn't sure if he felt the same about her. And what could one date hurt? If she didn't like Darwin, she wouldn't have to go on another one.

"Sure," Rory decided. "I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Great," Darwin said with a smile. "So, is tomorrow night all right?"

"Sounds perfect," she answered. "Tell you what." She grabbed a napkin from the tray and a pen from her purse. "Why don't I give you my number, and you can call me tonight and work out the details. I really do need to get back to work." She wrote her number on the napkin and handed it to him.

"Okay," he agreed. "So I'll talk to you later."  


"Talk to you later," Rory answered. She then exited the restaurant and began making her way back to the office. 

A/N: Okay, I know, I know. It seems as though I'm setting them up with completely different people, but I promise, Rory and Jess will be together. There's just no other scenario fathomable to me. So, please review, and . . . that's about all I have to say! Until next time --

~Lauren


	8. Greek Tragedy, Anyone?

****

A/N: Thanks so much to all the reviewers and readers for being so patient. Thank you to Katherine, Summer, Lauren, Loz, and Joan.

****

Disclaimer: Yup, I own _Gilmore Girls_. E-mail me, I'll tell you all about the plans for next season. And if you actually think it's true and e-mail me about this, I'm not holding myself responsible for the answer you'll get.

Side note: Peppino's is a real restaurant, but not in New York. It's in Rutland, Vermont. If you're ever there, check it out, it's heaven on earth.

****

Chapter 8

Rory rifled through her closet Tuesday evening, trying to determine the perfect outfit. Darwin was taking her to a semi-fancy Italian restaurant called Peppino's. And she was inevitably going through the typical first date predicament of wanting to look nice, but not wanting to look too eager.

Jenny peered out from behind her book. "The blue sundress."

Rory looked at her curiously. "How do you do that?" She removed her dress from the closet.

Jenny set the book down. "It's a gift." She sat up on her bed. "So . . . your feelings for Jess are gone?" She used air quotes around the word "feelings."

Her roommate paused. "I don't think so," she admitted. "But . . . there are sort of two problems with it."

"Do tell."

"Well, first, the obvious obstacle. He's my boss. Countless movies and TV shows have reiterated for me the problems with that. Second, it appears he's considering embarking on a new relationship with this girl that makes Claudia Schiffer look like she split the atom."

"Well," Jenny said. "So you're just letting it go."

"I'm pushing it aside for now," Rory answered. "And I figure, Darwin's nice, he's funny, he doesn't report to the same vicinity I do for work. Maybe he's a good distraction from this barely existent tingle I feel when I see Jess."

"So you're admitting this Darwin character is just a distraction?"

Rory pulled the dress over head and picked up a brush. She began brushing her hair. "He's not just a distraction. I could fall in love with him. Marry him, have his kids."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Right, and you can name your kids Mendel and Curie."

"What's wrong with that?" Rory asked. "It would be a good way to ensure their brilliancy."

"The brilliancy that will be knocked out of them by kids on the playground," Jenny countered.

Rory rolled her eyes. "How did we even start talking about this? I'm going on my first date with the guy, and you're already talking about the doomed nature of our children."

Jenny looked at her. "If you ever need a pessimist . . ."

"I know who to come to," Rory assure her. She resumed brushing her hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess waited in the subway for the train Tuesday after work. It was late, and he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't make it home for the daily reruns of _Seinfeld_.

While he stood there, he thought about Rory and Elizabeth. He had been thinking about them since last night, and had come to the conclusion that he was over Elizabeth completely and he had to tell Rory how he felt. If he didn't, he was just depriving himself of the possibility of something really good. Tomorrow -- he would tell her tomorrow.

He just hoped she felt the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Darwin had picked Rory up, they had taken a cab to Peppino's. Now, as they were settling in at their seats, Rory picked up a menu.

"So what's good here?" she asked. While she had heard raves about the place, she had never actually eaten there.

"Everything," he answered. "My favorite is the veal parmesan. Or if you don't eat meat, the tortellini is excellent as well."

Rory laughed a little bit. "I eat meat," she assured him. "I don't understand those who don't. If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have hung meat on them."

Darwin laughed also. "That's my outlook on it." 

Rory asked, "Okay, so which one is better?"

"That is a choice I cannot make," Darwin said dramatically. "However, I do have a suggestion. We could order both and split it. And if that's not enough food, they made incredible desserts here."

"That sounds good to me," Rory said, setting her menu down. 

Now that the food banter was gone, they were both scrounging in their heads for something interesting to say.

"So did you grow up in New York?" Rory asked. Questions about childhood could only inevitably lead to conversation.

"Born and bred," Darwin answered. "I love this city more than you could imagine." He sipped his water. "What about you?"

"I grew up in a small town in Connecticut," Rory told him. "It's called Stars Hollow. Blink as you're driving by it and you'll miss it."

"What brought you to New York?"  


"College," she answered. "I always thought I was Harvard-bound, but at the last minute . . . I don't know, something just tugged me to Columbia. It was Ivy League, and I think I wanted to give it a go at living in a bigger city."

"Well, you certainly started with the king of big cities."

"I know," Rory said. "But I really love it here. I'd like to live here as long as I possibly can. The people aren't like everyone thinks -- they're quite friendly."

"New Yorkers are horribly stereotyped," Darwin said. 

"That's what I've learned," Rory answered. "Three years here, and I've never been mugged or anything. Cursed out a few times by drivers, yes, but where doesn't that happen?"

"Glad to hear you like New York so much," he said with a smile.

"I do," Rory said. Then there was silence again, saved by the arrival of the waiter to take their orders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rory stepped out of the cab in front of her dorm building. Dinner was over; it had outlasted the conversation, though. By dessert time, Rory almost didn't want the cannoli. She knew she would be eating it in silence.

Darwin stepped out as well, but asked the cab driver to wait just one moment. Good -- Rory was relieved that Darwin obviously didn't expect an invitation upstairs.

"I had a nice time tonight," Darwin said. He was obviously going through the motions of a polite good-night to a one-time date. 

Rory lied, "Me too." Oh, there was nothing wrong with Darwin at all -- he was a seemingly very nice person. Unfortunately, the two of them had seemingly nothing in common.

He looked as though he didn't know what to do. Finally, he put his hand out. With a small grin, Rory shook it.

"Maybe I'll see you sometime," Rory said. There was no reason to pretend that they were going to go on a second date.

"Maybe," Darwin agreed. She was relieved to see that he had no illusions about them being soulmates or anything.

"Okay, well . . . good night," Rory said. She turned to walk into her dorm.

"Good night," Darwin called from behind. He climbed back into the cab and the driver took him away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So," Jenny said later on as Rory put on her sweats to sleep in. "Now that you know our earlier conversation was a moot point, and you won't be having kids . . . are you going to pursue that boss of yours?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Darwin isn't the reason I'm not pursuing Jess. I'm not pursuing Jess because he's my boss and besides, he's my step cousin. Greek tragedy, anyone?"

Jenny rolled her eyes right back. "Step cousin. Meaning you're not blood-related. You're distantly non-blood related. That's just a lame excuse not to go for it with him when you obviously feel something."

"It is a perfectly legitimate excuse," Rory shot back. "Besides, despite what you seem to think, it's not like I'm burning up with want for him. It's just a little crush. I'll get over it."

Jenny turned on her back in a position so she could sleep. "You are truly a master of denial, Rory. Even if you're not 'burning up with want for him,' aren't you curious? Don't you want to see what could happen with this guy?"

Rory was silent. She reached over and turned off the lamp on the nightstand. "Good night, Jenny." 

"Good night."

Rory closed her eyes. But somehow, she knew she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep for hours.


	9. Right On Target

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A/N: Final chapter. Seems abrupt, I know, but after this week's tragic end of the Lit relationship . . . I felt the need for a nice, happy ending. So . . . I hope this helps satisfy your obvious need as a Lit for some good fluff right now. 

Thanks so much to everyone who's read and reviewed along the way. Thanks especially to Joan, Lauren, Summer, Helen, Loz, and Katherine. You guys are great inspiration.

Onto the end!

****

Chapter 9

"Yes," Jess said the following morning on the phone. "I'll have that piece in this afternoon. My intern is editing it for me." He replaced the phone on its cradle.

Rory stuck her head into the door. "So do you need that piece on the Democratic gubernatorial candidate back?"

Jess smiled slightly. It was almost like ESP. "Yeah," he said. "Are you done with it yet?"

She held up a sheaf of papers. "Completely." She walked over, set the papers down on the desk, and turned to walk back out.

Jess found himself saying, "Wait." He decided it was now or never.

Rory faced him. "Yes?"

He stood up. "Look. I know you're my intern, and I'm your boss. And I know that our first couple of meetings were not indicative of anything more than a simple work-related relationship." This was the hardest time he had ever had forming sentences. "But . . . there's something here. Between you and me. And I know I feel it." He paused. "Do you?"

Rory had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. "I, um . . . I . . ."

"It's okay," Jess reassured her. "I told you how I feel. Just tell me how you feel."

She shifted her eyes downward. "I feel it too."

Jess' heart leaped into his throat.

"But," she went on, "we can't be together. We work together. And we're related!"

"Distantly. By marriage," Jess reminded her.

"It's still relation."

Jess shook his head. "No. You're just scared."

"Scared of what?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. Maybe you've been hurt before. Maybe you're commitment-phobic. I don't know a lot about you Rory, and I'd like to know more. I just know that right now, you seem to be searching for ways to justify us not being together."

"I'm not commitment-phobic," Rory insisted. "I just went on a date last night."

Jess rolled his eyes. "One date does not by any stretch of the imagination constitute commitment."

"Well, maybe I am scared," Rory said defiantly.

"What are you scared of?"

"The fact that I like you so much," she admitted. "Despite first impressions, I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone instinctually. Not even my only serious boyfriend in high school, Tristan. It's almost as if I like you too much."

This time, he couldn't contain his smile. "That's not a problem, I assure you."

Rory smiled back. Then she looked at him. "So . . . what do we do now?"

Jess thought for a minute before answering. "We give it a shot."

"And if we miss?" she asked, taking note that he was moving closer to her.

"Then we miss," he said, closing in on her. "But I have a feeling we're right on target."

And finally, he kissed her, and she didn't move away. She helped him seal the coffin on their professional relationship.

And it felt completely right.


End file.
